The end was near. Now it's come...

[ceebee]

We have a an upscale Sports Bar & Grill called Magoos. It's great & you can find some action, we have 9 foot GCs & a couple Diamonds, a slew of Diamond Bar Boxes & a couple Valleys.

It's a great place to play, on the weekends, they have terrible Music, but when you start playing, you never hear it.

Come to Tulsa & come see us...

 

[Tramp Steamer]

It's all true. It's been probably 7 or 8 years and I'm still looking for a place that fits. Well, with any luck (and if you're able to be game...) you'll end up on a good buzz with Jenni (with an 'i') and Joie in a bar in Las Vegas late one night when your team qualifies for the National Tournament, and you know what they say..... "What happens in Vegas...."
All the best to you Tramp, I hope it goes your way.

I hope it goes all our way.
At least the tables are still there, so the One Pocket continues. My team is just a bunch of crusty old One Pocket players. When we're gone it's game over.

 

[Tramp Steamer]

Just start drinking more and watching soccer and hockey. Buy a few jerseys, you will be ok once you embrace it. Goaaaaaaaaaaaaaal.

Good Lord, John. Is that what I have to look forward to?
I do, however, keep a bottle of Quervo Gold, in the freezer there, in case of emergencies. :smile:

 

[Tramp Steamer]

Is Phil Spudich the owner?

Yes. He's putting a lot of money into the place trying to entice more power drinkers to come in on the week-ends. There are 16 GC's left and all need new cloth.
But, hey, we have a new sign out front. :smile:

 

[Tramp Steamer]

How is Danny Harriman doing? Is he still in the hospital?

He's recovered, but out of town and I don't know where.

 

[spliced]

hey at least the sign doesnt say OUT OF BUSINESS

 

[Tramp Steamer]

I am surprised to here it is still open at all. It was there in 93 when I moved to Buffalo. And it was still there in 02 when I moved back to GA. They must be doing something right to stay open that long.

Hi, Chris.
I've never seen the bottom line on the place, but like so many entertainment venues these days it's all about the booze and the food, sad to say. :smile:

 

[Tramp Steamer]

We have a an upscale Sports Bar & Grill called Magoos. It's great & you can find some action, we have 9 foot GCs & a couple Diamonds, a slew of Diamond Bar Boxes & a couple Valleys.
It's a great place to play, on the weekends, they have terrible Music, but when you start playing, you never hear it.
Come to Tulsa & come see us...

I love T-Town. Used to go down and play in some of the Midwest 9 Ball tournaments at the Palace. That was a long time ago. My favorite place to eat was the Casa Bonita (long since closed).
I've been to Magoo's, but I can no longer tolerate the smoke.
Have you ever watched Little Andy play One Pocket? Best unknown player in the world. :smile:

 

[PoolBum]

Last week, after a new facade was put on the front of the building, a sign was installed with big red letters that read: 'Billiards...Sports Bar and Grill'. I damned near crapped my pants.
Has this happened to any of you? Has your pool hall gone to the dark side?

I've heard rumors that "AZBilliards" will soon be "AZSports Bar and Grill."

 

[Tramp Steamer]

I've heard rumors that "AZBilliards" will soon be "AZSports Bar and Grill."

Could well be. We could have a menu disguised as a sticky.
Hey, Mr. Howerton has to make a living somehow.

 

[pt109]

I love T-Town. Used to go down and play in some of the Midwest 9 Ball tournaments at the Palace. That was a long time ago. My favorite place to eat was the Casa Bonita (long since closed).
I've been to Magoo's, but I can no longer tolerate the smoke.

The Billiard Palace was Jim McDermott's favorite room...
...but economic reasons said he had to close it...it became a teenybopper hangout and
Magoos was basically supporting it.
Last time I was in there, a guy named Charlie was asking people to play 9-ball for $300
a game.....I quietly asked him if he had change for a hundred....
....he said he'd have to find a backer for that....

...and someone got stabbed over a bar box argument....not fatally.

The Magoo type of room is what we have to deal with, Tramp...it's not a bad compromise
between serious players and party animals....especially if they keep the music toned down
for the day regulars.

High rents have made old time poolhalls dinosaurs.

 

[Nine ... corner]

there used to be such a thing as a pool room WITHOUT a sports bar?

Yeah, it was called Aimes, Mister.

 

[Nine ... corner]

I've heard rumors that "AZBilliards" will soon be "AZSports Bar and Grill."

:rotflmao1::rotflmao1::clapping:

 

[ExilePreacher]

This is depressing. When I was a teenager our county seat was a town of about 15,000 people and it supported three pool rooms. Just beer, burgers, one TV and constant 9 ball action. Two of them closed when I was 19. The main one remained till the owner died in about 2003 or so. I grew up in that darn place. The owner or house man would let me sleep under table number one and his wife would wake me at 2 pm the next day when she opened by vacuuming the floor and bumping my feet. I wasn't even old enough to legally go in the place. If I had action they'd lock me in at closing time and tell me, "After you're done robbing this donkey Chuckles, make sure he has a ride home." Usually I'd just sleep there but if I decided to go home they trusted me to lock the door back and I had a key. I could fix myself something to eat there. God I miss that place.

There were about 6 towns within five to fifteen minutes from that city and another dozen within 30 minutes that had pool rooms or little coin op "game rooms" where a guy could go play for decent money and never spend more that 50 cents on a game. No anti smoking laws then so kids were there and they'd do a damn steeple chase over the tables to lose their parents money to you.

I moved back to the same county a few years back after living in VA, OK, and LA for awhile. Now there's not one pool room within 45 minutes and two bars in the county with 2 crappy bar boxes that NO ONE on will play for money. Sad.

 

[Tramp Steamer]

You know, it's those words, "Sports Bar", that really grinds my gears. As if you could establish a connection with a sport by simply walking into the place and getting drunk.
I am not being unkind here, nor prudish, either. These are places for hard drinkers.
Having a cocktail while playing a game of One Pocket with a beautiful woman (I can count on one finger how many times I've done that, how about you John?) is one thing, but doing shots while your pitcher of beer gets warm is another.
What I'd give to spend my last day on earth in an upstairs pool room with a green and grey tile floor. Rays of smokey sunlight coming through factory windows. The manager in a striped shirt with arm garters. And Luther Lassiter practicing over in the corner.

 

[decent dennis]

Isn't the sports bar part in itself a total different part of the building?

 

[alstl]

Yes. He's putting a lot of money into the place trying to entice more power drinkers to come in on the week-ends. There are 16 GC's left and all need new cloth.
But, hey, we have a new sign out front. :smile:

He seems like a decent guy to me. When he closed in Columbia the guy he sold his tables to opened a food/drink/pool place and it makes more on food than pool which is great - because it keeps the place in business.

Booches has been in business since the 1880's and they went to food,drink and pool to stay in business. That's the way it is.

 

[Tramp Steamer]

He seems like a decent guy to me. When he closed in Columbia the guy he sold his tables to opened a food/drink/pool place and it makes more on food than pool which is great - because it keeps the place in business.
Booches has been in business since the 1880's and they went to food,drink and pool to stay in business. That's the way it is.

Phil is a nice guy. I've known him for years. I also understand the man has to make a living. I also know that I don't have to like how pool rooms, as we once knew them, are being morphed into so-called 'Sports Bars'.

 

[david(tx)]

My home room added a bar and some big screens about 2 years ago. It was circling the drain before that - thriving now. I count my blessings.

Of course, the bar and the pool tables being in separate rooms helps a lot.

pj
chgo

Of course, the bar and the pool tables being in separate rooms helps a lot.

This worked for bowling alley's with pool rooms. Segregating different elements of businesses seems to work. Not putting speakers from the jukebox in the pool area would work , for the people who like to shoot and hear music to it would still allow them to hear yet be muffled.The people hollering at sports events on the tv's seem distant.

 

[d_day]

I play pool in a place called Billiard's of Springfield. Opening in 1986 with 18 Gold Crown II's, Billiards has hosted the State Nine-ball Championships, the State Eight-ball Championships, many lesser tournaments, and is called home by notable pool players Danny Harriman, Darren Everett, and funnyman Tramp Steamer. Over the years many of the world's best have played there.
Last week, after a new facade was put on the front of the building, a sign was installed with big red letters that read: 'Billiards...Sports Bar and Grill'. I damned near crapped my pants.
Has this happened to any of you? Has your pool hall gone to the dark side?

Yep, has happened to me, though the name never changed. when it opened it had 30-ish gold crown IIIs. An expansion a few years later saw 10 more gold crown IIIs and a snooker table in a semi private room for players only. Now there are 10 gold crowns, a dozen bar boxes, and the side room is gone. They cater to the drunkard banger and don't care if any players ever come in.